City of Vancouver presses on with bid to host FIFA World Cup games in 2026

The City of Vancouver is pushing ahead with its bid to host up to five FIFA tournament matches in 2026. This June 2015 file phoo shows Canada 's Josee Belanger (9) celebrating Canada's goal against Switzerland during the quarter round FIFA Women's World Cup 2015 action in B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver. Gerry Kahrmann / PNG

The City of Vancouver is one step closer to hosting what its staff have called “the biggest event on the planet” – the FIFA men’s World Cup.

Councillors voted unanimously and enthusiastically Tuesday in support of a plan for the city to press on with its bid to host as many as five matches as part of the 2026 tournament.

Vancouver is part of a “united bid” to have Canada, Mexico and the US jointly host the tournament. It is one of four Canadian cities still up for consideration by the united bid committee, along with 25 cities in the US and three in Mexico, according to the city report. Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal are the other three prospective hosts in Canada.

Michelle Collens, the city’s manager of sport hosting, said it was the first time in the history of the World Cup that soccer associations from three countries had bid as one entity.

“The bid is about unity. It’s about building a legacy and not just in the next eight years, but in the future generations,” Collens said. In her estimation, this bid would be Vancouver and Canada’s one and only chance to host men’s World Cup matches.

FIFA would control ticketing and venues and it would keep all revenue for the event, according to a city report that went to councillors before the vote. Meanwhile, Vancouver would be required to: “plan for outdoor advertising and media, banners and decorations supporting the games, traffic management, public transportation, crowd management, ambush marketing, bylaw enforcement, safety, security and fire protection,” and to hold a “FIFA Fan Fest” for 30 days during the tournament, according to the report.

The city will seek to have Canada and or B.C. reimburse Vancouver for costs apart from the fan fest – which could cost $20 million – and normal city and parks services, according to the report. “Every effort will be made to recover incremental service costs,” it read. City staff would fill some support roles by redeploying staff, according to the report and some city expenses could be recovered through stadium rental fees or training site rental fees, but the city provided no specific numbers.

The tournament would stimulate economic activity, according to the city, which cited a Boston Consulting Group study commissioned by the united bid committee. The study found that “individual host cities could see between $160 and $620 million in incremental economic activity,” according to the report.

Hosting the event would help build a foundation for future economic development and the exposure presented by the World Cup “will form lasting impressions for visitors and broadcast viewers, further solidifying Vancouver’s reputation as a world-class event host and destination,” claimed the city’s report.

Vision Vancouver Coun. Andrea Reimer said she had been playing soccer since she was a child and was proud to vote in support of the bid for the men’s matches.

“For me, actually, the pinnacle achievement was getting the Women’s World Cup. I’d grown up with those women as my heroes on the soccer field. But I think what it proved is yes we can as a city. Yes we can participate in the world’s biggest sporting event and do it with a lot of pride,” Reimer said. “Clearly I’m not going to the World Cup at this point, as a player, but it is kind of an awe inspiring thing.”

Mayor Gregor Robertson said it would be an honour to host the World Cup as part of the three country bid.

“We’ve got a great opportunity here,” he said before the vote.

Host nations are slated to be named by FIFA in June 2018, and host cities will get their nods in 2021. Under the united bid, 10 games would be held in Canada, 10 in Mexico, and 60 in the U.S.

Kjeld Brodsgaard, the president of B.C. Soccer, said he supported the bid and believed hosting the event would benefit the broader community.

“It is a dream of any player to put on a Canadian soccer uniform. It is even a further dream to play in a World Cup. And to have the opportunity to don a Canadian jersey in your home city, I’m not sure that anybody alive would even think that was going to be a possibility,” he said.

To date, neither the federal nor provincial governments have committed their support for the matches, according to the city.

In 2015, Vancouver hosted the FIFA Women’s World Cup and it held the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2010.

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